The field of communications has become increasingly important in today's society. One area of importance associated with network communications relates to authentication. Authentication protocols may be used in order to properly verify the identities of end users or objects that communicate in a network environment. The proliferation of wireless local area networks (WLANs) have further complicated authentication protocols and provided significantly more traffic for devices and components in communication systems and architectures.
In executing authentication procedures and processes, it is important to minimize bottlenecks, impedances, and other points of congestion caused by increased access requests and responses that are propagating via suitable communication links. Excessive traffic may overburden components and elements in a network architecture and deteriorate system performance because of the inability to accommodate such communication demands. Thus, the ability to provide for effective authentication without inhibiting system speed or system performance presents a significant challenge to network designers and communication system operators.